It was a rather nice day at Stangard, or at least it would have been... had a body not been found at the edge of the market place. Master healer, Leofbryt had been called in and Régnwald was at training with the warriors. Which was why morning would find Ruscbald and Vanora crouched next to master healer as he carefully examined the body on the ground.
"Oh, Helm’s balls. Poor boy...” sighed the large man as he gave out a deep, bitter sigh. “Aren't you worried?" he asked, wrinkling his nose at the body lying face down before him as he took a goodly gulp from the mead. "I've seen some six sick people like that in the last days."
"Of what?" Healer, the old man questioned offhandedly, too focused on the body.
"That you might catch whatever it is," Vanora answered softly.
"I'm the maegisterhaelend. This is part of my job. Most of the time there's really nothing to be scared of," he reached out to roll the body over, earning a squeak from Vanora as she jumped back at the sight of it. It was pale, far too pale to be normal, with pale blue veins bulging all over, its eyes as cloudy and blue as the rest of him.
‘'I'm guessing this isn't one of those times?’' she asked silently.
Ruscbald grimaced, snorted "You were saying?"
Leofbryt looked around, startled, clearly not even he was expecting something like that. He sighed, murmuring quietly to them when he noticed people walking past the small alley they had found the body in, "The people mustn't see this, they'll panic more."
Vanora looked around and, spotting an old cloth, grabbed it and threw it over the body so that they could lift it onto the small wagon they'd brought with them. ~ '’What do you think it is?’' Vanora heard in her mind as she glanced up at her lover, who was pulling the cart with Leofbryt as she walked behind it. '’I have no idea,'' she replied, '’But it can't be a natural disease.'’
'’How do you mean?'’
She shrugged, ''I hope not, but what else could it be?''
Ruscbald furrowed his brow, ''Let's hope this goat can find an answer.''
''And a cure,'' she added, 'I just hope it doesn't spre…''
"What're you doing?" a voice asked from behind them, startling them.
They turned quickly to see Cwenwulf walking up to them with a small handful of flowers in her hand and a basket on her arm. "Uh," Vanora starlted, looking quickly at her brother for help. What do you say to a question like that? Especially when one was trying to discreetly move a body without others noticing.
"Just...moving something," Ruscbald answered, mentally wincing at the knowledge that the something was what seemed to be a diseased corpse. He walked over to Vanora, standing next to her so that the other lass wouldn't be able to see the leg sticking through the cloth.
"Looks heavy," she commented, trying to peer around them to no avail as they leaned over every way she turned to block her attempts.
"Ah, not really," Ruscbald shrugged, trying to look casual, "You just have to…"
"Has someone given you flowers?" Vanora questioned suddenly, trying to steer the conversation away from the body and noticing the bouquet in the girl's hands.
"Oh no," she blushed, fiddling with the flowers for a moment before looking at them, "Would you like one? A purple one," she shuffled through the flowers, trying to pick two out.
"Sure," they replied slowly, reaching out as Cwenwulf handed them some of the little lavender flowers. Vanora stuck one over her ear as Ruscbald placed it in his neckerchief. Leofbryt cleared his throat behind them and they quickly said their goodbyes, pulling the cart the rest of the way to the Foldewyn's chambers.
